Six-star rank
{{short description|Proposed U.S. military rank}}
{{redirect|Six-star general|the 1973 record album of that name|Vinegar Joe (band)|other high military ranks|Highest military ranks}}
{{original research|date=December 2020}}
{{See also|General of the Armies of the United States}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2023}}
In the United States Armed Forces, a six-star rank is a proposed rank immediately superior to a five-star rank, possibly to be worn by the General of the Armies.
History
When Congress approved a bill to create the rank of Fleet Admiral in 1944,s:Public Law 78-482 Pub.L. 78-482 – To establish the grade of Fleet Admiral for the United States Navy; to establish the grade of General of the Army, and for other purposes.{{primary source inline|date=December 2020}} the Navy wanted to re-establish and elevate Admiral of the Navy to be equivalent to General of the Armies,{{Cite web|date=20 July 1944|title=Hearings Before the Committee on Naval Affairs of the House of Representatives on Sundry Legislation Affecting the Naval Establishment, 1943–1944, Seventy-eighth Congress, First–Second Session. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office. 1944. pp. 1339, 2357–2362.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7EggKi9ZfMYC&pg=PA2357|access-date=1 November 2020|website=Google Books}}{{primary source inline|date=December 2020}} which requires an Act of Congress. Chief of Naval Personnel Vice Admiral Randall Jacobs testified before the Committee on Naval Affairs of the House of Representatives, recommending that the rank of Admiral of the Navy be made the Naval equivalent to General of the Armies, which a previous failed bill submitted on 25 February 1944 tried to do. Congress passed Pub.L. 78-482 on 14 December 1944, creating the rank of Fleet Admiral, without re-establishing the rank of Admiral of the Navy.{{cite web|date=14 December 1944|title=An Act to establish the grade of Fleet Admiral for the United States Navy; to establish the grade of General of the Army, and for other purposes|url=http://www.nightscribe.com/military/public_law_482.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120206041537/http://www.nightscribe.com/military/public_law_482.htm|archive-date=6 February 2012|access-date=2012-09-21}}{{primary source inline|date=December 2020}}
=Post{{ndash}}World War II=
As such, the rank of Admiral of the Navy continued to be inactive. By 1955, the Navy concluded that the rank was honorary.{{Cite web|title="How Many Stars Does 'Admiral of the Navy' Rate?". All Hands. January 1955. p. 23.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iKnqzC24-yAC&pg=PA23|access-date=1 November 2020|website=Google Books}} And while they held to the belief that it was equivalent to General of the Armies, the Navy amended its regulations to establish fleet admiral as its highest achievable rank, adhering to the standard set by the law.
On 21 January 1955, a draft resolution was proposed to the U.S. Senate to authorize President Dwight D. Eisenhower to appoint Douglas MacArthur, then a five-star General of the Army, to be elevated to the "six-star rank" of General of the Armies of the United States "in recognition of the great services to his country", with "such appointment to take effect as of the seventy-fifth anniversary of his birth, 26 January 1955."U.S. Senate Joint Resolution 26, 21 January 1955.{{cite book|author=Foster, Frank C.|year=2011|title=United States Army Medal, Badges and Insignias|publisher=Medals of America Press|isbn=9781884452673|page=19|quote=effort was made to reward General Douglas MacArthur, this time with specifying a six-star rank, but it never came to fruition}}{{cite book|author-link=Michael Korda|last=Korda|first=Michael|year=2009|title=Ike|url=https://archive.org/details/ikeamericanhero00kord|url-access=registration|publisher=HarperCollins|isbn=9780061744969|page=[https://archive.org/details/ikeamericanhero00kord/page/190 190]|quote=Congress would twice try to promote him from the new rank of General of the Army—a five-star general—to the unique rank of General of the Armies: a proposed six-star general.}} The proposal had little chance of passing and was never voted on.{{cite book|author-link=Stanley Weintraub|last=Weintraub|first=Stanley|year=2007|title=15 Stars: Eisenhower, MacArthur, Marshall: Three Generals Who Saved the American Century|publisher=Simon & Schuster|isbn=9781416545934|page=488|quote=A few MacArthur devotees in Congress, like Representative Martin, tried to organize support for honorary six-star rank for the general, but as that would have been a slap at Eisenhower, such legislation had no chance.}}
{{check quotation}}
The rank of General of the Armies had previously been granted in 1919 to active-duty four-star General John J. Pershing. The markings used to identify Pershing's new ranking as higher than general was a bank of four gold (rather than silver) stars.{{cn|date=December 2020}}
In 1976, as part of commemorations for the U.S. Bicentennial, George Washington was posthumously promoted to the rank of General of the Armies of the United States.Department of the Army Order 31-3, (13 March 1978). Department of the Army order to enact Public Law 94-479. Although the law did not actually specify the number of stars,{{cite web|url=http://washingtonexaminer.com/sunday-reflection-how-the-indispensable-man-became-americas-only-six-star-general/article/2526401#!|title=Sunday Reflection: How the 'indispensable man' became America's only six-star general|author=Dooley, Joseph|date=April 6, 2013|work=Washington Examiner}} some U.S. newspapers{{cite news |title=George Washington Wins Promotion to Six-Star Rank |last= United Press International |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1310&dat=19761012&id=MuVVAAAAIBAJ&pg=5963,2770662 |newspaper= Eugene Register-Guard |location= Eugene, Oregon |date= 12 October 1976 |access-date= 1 March 2014 |page= 7A }}{{cite news |title=Washington Gets Star |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9900E2D6143EE334BC4B52DFB667838D669EDE |date=13 October 1976 |quote=President Ford signed today a bill that posthumously promoted George Washington to the rank of six-star General of the Armies}}{{cite news|author=Kilian, Michael|title=Foursquare opposed to a six-star Washington|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|date=5 August 1976|page=A2}} and members of Congress{{cite web |author=Dooley |first=Joseph |date=6 April 2013 |title=Sunday Reflection: How the 'indispensable man' became America's only six-star general |url=https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columnists/545543/sunday-reflection-how-the-indispensable-man-became-americas-only-six-star-general/ |work=Washington Examiner |quote=Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., ... noted, [Washington] is "the only six-star general in the nation's history."}} described this as a "six-star rank". His appointment had been to serve as "General and Commander in Chief of the Army of the United Colonies".[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/hlaw:@field(DOCID+@lit(jc00238)): Cont'l Cong., Commission for General Washington, in 2 Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774–1789 96-7 (Library of Cong. eds., 1905)].[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/hlaw:@field(DOCID+@lit(jc00240)): Cont'l Cong., Instructions for General Washington, in 2 Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774–1789 100-1 (Library of Cong. eds., 1905)].
Gallery
File:George washington charles peale polk.jpg|Painting of George Washington showing three star insignia. He was posthumously promoted to the rank of General of the Armies of the United States in 1976.
File:Orders 31-3.jpg|Order 31-3 for promoting George Washington to the rank of General of the Armies of the United States effective 4 July 1976
File:Douglas MacArthur 58-61.jpg|General Douglas MacArthur showing five-star rank insignia. A proposal in Congress (1955) that MacArthur be promoted to General of the Armies lapsed.
File:Douglas MacArthur promotion order to General of the Armies.jpg|Proposed Congressional resolution authorizing promotion of Douglas MacArthur to General of the Armies. Copy taken from his service record on file at the National Personnel Records Center.
File:General John Joseph Pershing head on shoulders.jpg|John Pershing held the rank General of the Armies during his lifetime, though he only wore four stars.
File:Ulysses S Grant by William F Cogswell, 1868.jpg|Ulysses S Grant currently holds the rank General of the Armies on the retired list, though he never wore more than four stars.